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Who: Information Commissioner's Office
Where: Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK
When: September 2013
Law stated as at: 3 October 2013
The Information Commissioner has published a guidance document focusing on direct marketing ('Guidance'). Topped off with a 17-point 'Direct Marketing Checklist' and an 'At a glance guide' to the consent rules for various marketing channels, the 45-pager is a must-read for all marketers wanting to comply with data protection and electronic communications laws and for their advisers too.
Moreover, since the Guidance goes beyond previous ICO pronouncements in key areas such as consent to direct marketing, urgent attention will need to be paid to data capture mechanisms in case changes are needed to ensure that the data can be used for the intended purposes.
Existing databases may also be rendered unusable for certain purposes at a stroke. More of this below, but first here are some highlights from the numerous passages dealing with consent.
The ICO is tightening up its attitude on consent shelf-life in the context of direct marketing. This is particularly relevant for marketing channels such as email and text, where the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 ('PECR') expressly require prior consent.
The ICO advises particular care in the following scenarios:
when the data subject gives consent to marketing as part of signing up for...